A Family of No Prominence: The Descendants of Pak Tŏkhwa and the Birth of Modern Korea

Koreans are known for their keen interest in genealogy and
inherited ancestral status. Yet today’s ordinary Korean would be hard pressed
to explain the whereabouts of ancestors before the twentieth century. With A Family of No Prominence, Eugene Y.
Park gives us a remarkable account of a nonelite family, that of Pak Tŏkhwa and
his descendants (which includes the author). Spanning the early modern and
modern eras over three centuries (1590–1945), this narrative of one family of
the chungin class of people is a landmark achievement.

What we do know of the chungin, or “middle people,” of Korea
largely comes from profiles of wealthy, influential men, frequently cited as
collaborators with Japanese imperialists, who went on to constitute the
post-1945 South Korean elite. This book highlights many rank-and-file chungin who, despite being better educated
than most Koreans, struggled to survive. We follow Pak Tŏkhwa’s descendants as
they make inroads into politics, business, and culture. Yet many members’
refusal to link their family histories and surnames to royal forebears, as most
other Koreans did, sets them apart, and facilitates for readers a meaningful
discussion of identity, modernity, colonialism, memory, and historical agency.